Levirt Griffin and Sheilan Kazzaz (foreground left to right), both of Stanford, wait for their sandwich order in front of Ike's Place in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday May 12, 2010. Griffin and Kazzaz saw Ike's Place on an episode of "Man v. Food" and came to try out the sandwiches.

Ike's Place is having the second-worst experience that can happen to an eating establishment. No, it's not failing to attract customers.

It has become too popular.

The home of delicious (if calorie-crammed) sandwiches, Ike's draws lines in the Castro that often stretch three doors up 16th Street, all the way to the Volvo dealership.

That's the problem. A spokesman for neighbors complains that Ike's is "terrorizing the neighborhood" with crowds of customers, noise, trash, and the persistent whiff of baking BLT's.

The result is that now everyone is lawyered-up, the landlord has served an eviction notice, hipsters are choosing sides, and the lines keep growing.

This is a case where everyone should drop their mustard squirters and lawyers and just talk. Even owner Ike Shehadeh admits that the business has far outgrown his tiny storefront. He would welcome a move to a larger, better spot in the neighborhood.

All Shehadeh needs to do is sell the business to someone else - his lease runs through 2018 and he says he's had several good offers - and he'd use the money to finance a new location.

But standing in his way are the building landlord Denman Drobisch (neither he nor his attorney returned calls for comment) who started eviction proceedings, meaning that Shehadeh wouldn't have a lease to sell. And the neighbors have hired an attorney and filed a complaint in Small Claims Court. Both issues are expected to be heard in court in the next three weeks.

There's certainly no question about the support for Ike's. Its quirky sandwiches like "The Legend of Zelda" or "[Name of Girl I'm Dating]," have a cult following.

"As a merchant and a small business owner he's been awesome," said Steve Adams, president of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro. "I will do everything in my power to get him to stay."

But attorney Julian Lastowski, who represents the residents who live above the sandwich shop, says they are the victims.

"These are two clients who have lived there 18 years," Lastowski said. "They are on fixed income and can't afford to move. The opinion of the Yelpers seems to be that if the neighbors don't like it, they can move."

Oh, the Yelpers. Ike's was not an overnight success. Shehadeh says he lost lots of money in 2007 and 2008, and then was discovered by Yelp, the local online rating service. With more than 2,000 glowing reviews, Ike's became a hit and the lines hours long began to form.

With the dose of national publicity, the lines grew right along with the complaints. Shehadeh says he cut the hours of operation, promised to have his crew wait until 8:30 a.m. to start work, increased the trash pickup, and sent his employees - who are known for their upbeat personalities - out to ask those in line to hold down the noise.

"I feel like everything they asked him to do, he did," said Adams. "It seems like as soon as he got successful, they go after him."

Lastowski disagrees.

"We all want you to be successful," he said, "but stop terrorizing the neighborhood."

The irony is that Shehadeh is already moving. He's opening an outlet at Stanford and another in Redwood Shores. All he needs, he says, is either the opportunity to sell his lease or a chance to stay six to eight months to build up some capital to move.

But rather than compromise, this has degenerated into lawsuits and name calling.

"Maybe, like in the old Westerns, this town isn't big enough for both of us," said Lastowski.

If I have to choose between cranky NIMBYs and a killer sandwich shop, I'll go with Ike's. We can find cranky neighbors anywhere.